A Civilization Gone with the Wind
by purplediamond7
Summary: This is a series of oneshots usually set before or after PotC. No spoilers for AWE! PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!
1. Tomorrow is Another Day

**A Civilization Gone with the Wind**

Disclaimer: I own neither Pirates of the Caribbean, nor Gone with the Wind

**Tomorrow is Another Day**

A**/N: I decided to write a series of PotC oneshots with titles that are qoutes from Gone with the Wind! You don't have to have read or seen Gone with the Wind to read this. These oneshots might be connected somewhat, but they probably won't go in choronological order. This one is about Jack and the mutiny, but most are going to feature Will and Elizabeth as well as Jack.**

Jack was sitting on the shore looking out at the sea. He held a solitary bottle of rum tightly, as though his life depended on it. The sun had set half an hour ago, and the air was beginning to get cooler, but the sand was still hot. The waves lapped gently at his feet.

The only thing Jack felt grateful for at the moment was the rum. It was by a miraculous stroke of luck that he had found it at all, and his luck had failed him of late. He had stumbled and fallen over the ring to the trap door hidden in the sand, and, cursing, opened it to find a store of rum. If there was rum, that meant that someone would come for it soon, and that meant a way off this accursed island and to the _Pearl_… No, not to the _Pearl_. That way was closed to him.

Jack shook his head and put one hand to his forehead. He didn't want to think about it now. Not while the pain of betrayal and mutiny was so very near. He took another swig of rum. It helped dull the pain. It dulled the rest of his senses as well, but he didn't care. He had never felt so utterly alone in the world. And Jack had never quite trusted anyone, not even himself.

He buried his free hand in the almost-hot sand and clenched it until he felt every grain rasping against his skin. He couldn't believe that this had happened. He had never trusted his crew very much, but he had never expected _this_. Barbossa had always been a nasty piece of work, but nothing that had happened recently hinted at a mutiny.

Perhaps what hurt most was to see Bootstrap Bill standing by and not making a single move in his defense. Bootstrap had always been his friend. He might be a rather too-honest man, but he was Jack's friend none the less. Bootstrap wasn't really part of the mutiny, but he had stood by and let it all happen.

Jack bit his lip. He couldn't think of it now, but he _had_ to. The memories kept on coming back to him. Bootstrap was the last person Jack would have suspected of this. He remembered the men visiting the brothels in Tortuga, and Bootstrap always keeping away, never saying a word, faithful to his wife somewhere in England. He remembered Bootstrap telling him about his little son he had left behind, Will. No, Bootstrap being part of the mutiny still didn't seem possible.

Jack felt something behind his eyes. It couldn't be tears. Of course not. He hadn't cried since he was five. He took another hungry gulp of rum instead.

Hours later, Jack was still sitting on the beach, looking out onto the sunrise. The sunrise always seemed to bring some hope to the world, however dismal everything was. Jack's eyes, aching with unshed tears and strained with a sleepless night, were watching the sunrise, and the sun that was warming the ocean and shore about his seemed to be warming his heart too.

He would get the _Black Pearl_ back. She would wait for him. She was his ship and he was her captain. They were one and the same. He would get her back. But first he had to get off this accursed island. Not not, though. He was tired, and he need sleep. Tomorrow. He would start on the quest for his ship tomorrow. Today could wait.


	2. I Don't Give a Damn

**A Civilization Gone with the Wind**

Disclaimer: Pirates of the Caribbean is owned by Disney. If I were in charge of Disney, I would have lots of money, and no time to write this. Gone with the Wind is owned by Margaret Mitchell. If I were Margaret Mitchell, I would be dead.

**I Don't Give a Damn**

Jack looked down into his glass, still half full of rum. He didn't know whether he should drink it or no. I didn't seem to be helping at all. He had gotten through three glasses already, and still the thoughts of the mutiny, the thing he was trying hardest to forget, kept spinning dizzily around and around in his mind. The problem was, he couldn't summon the energy to care about it. He remembered the mutiny, and knew that it should hurt, but he couldn't remember why. It was the first time he failed to _care_ about life.

"Captain Jack Sparrow," said a lazy drawl.

Jack turned around. Scarlett, one of his old Tortugan "friends". He turned away. He didn't feel like those pleasures tonight. Scarlett, however, was not to be deterred. She climbed boldly into his lap, before he could protest. She coiled her arms around his neck and tried to kiss him.

"Stop it, Scarlett," Jack said. "Go find someone else to amuse tonight,"

Scarlett considered Jack carefully.

"I ought to slap you," she informed him in her indolent drawl. "But it seems that it's been done for me."

"What do you mean?" Jack asked. Scarlett always managed to interest him. She didn't seem to be born to being a whore, but she had learned remarkably well. She always had something to say.

"Your crew mutinied on you, didn't they?"

Jack turned away. He started feeling some pain again. Maybe not caring was better.

"I'm sorry they did, Jack. But what you need most of the time, Jack Sparrow, is hard a slap in the face."

"Captain Jack Sparrow," Jack corrected automatically.

"Not anymore," Scarlett pointed out brutally.

A bit more feeling returned to Jack's indifferent heart. It still hurt.

"I'm sorry, Jack," she whispered into his ear. "Don't worry, just because you aren't a captain anymore, doesn't mean I won't be just as happy to see you."

"Thanks, Scarlett," Jack said, matching her sarcastic drawl. "It means a lot."

"So, cheer up! Just have some fun. You'll feel much better."

"No, I won't."

"Yes, you will. You just need to forget the _Pearl_ for a while."

"I don't care about the _Pearl_," Jack said, almost believing that he meant it.

"Oh, yes you do! You care. You care very, very much. That's why you're here, trying to drown your woes in rum."

Jack's heart gave a painful throb. At the moment, he hated Scarlett for bringing him back to reality.

"So, are you coming up?" she asked, gesturing to the staircase leading to the upper floors.

There didn't seem to be anything else to do. Jack nodded and let Scarlett put her arm around his shoulders, and steer him upstairs.

A/N: Well, if anyone is reading this, I'm very surprised. My last chapter was a failure, so I don't expect much from this one. By the way, I am not trying to say that Scarlett O'Hara is at all like Tortugan Scarlett. I don't have a very high opinion of Scarlett O'Hara, but it's not that low! Anyways, if anyone liked this, tell me! Review and I'll give you imaginary rum and ice cream!


	3. You Can Come to My Hanging

**A Civilization Gone with the Wind**

Disclaimer: No, I don't own anything. Even a reason to go on writing this story with so little reviews.

**You Can Come to My Hanging**

A/N: I have no idea why I'm still writing this! Someone please review!

"Jack, aren't you scared of hanging?" Will asked Jack. The _Dauntless_, with an imprisoned Captain Jack Sparrow on board, was heading back to Port Royal, and Jack's hanging.

"No, mate," Jack grinned at him. "D'you think I've never been hung before?"

"What?" Will asked, confused, as usual by the pirate.

"I've been about to be hung… oh, at least five times," Jack said.

"How did you get out of that?" Will asked, interested.

"Something always came up. That's life for you. Take it as it comes," Jack advised.

"And what if nothing comes up?" Will inquired.

"It will," Jack assured him. "And if it doesn't, you'll make sure it does, won't you?"

"_Me_?" Will asked, incredulously.

"Yes, you. Aren't we friends, William?"

"Yes, I suppose we are," Will said, with an uneasy feeling that being friends with a pirate wasn't exactly safe.

"Well, then you won't stand by and see your friend hanged, would you now?"

"I guess not," Will said, grinning.

"It's a pity we're not stopping at Tortuga," Jack remarked. "I usually tell people when I'm about to be hanged. Just so they'll be surprised when I come up again."

"I suppose some of them are unpleasantly surprised?" Will asked.

"I guess," Jack answered with a shrug. "I usually invite my enemies to the hanging. That's another thing I'll be missing."

"You invite people to your _hanging_?" Will demanded.

"Yeah," Jack reiterated.

"Jack, I've heard of people inviting guests to their birthday or wedding, but _not_ to their hanging!"

"Well, I'm usually scheduled to be hung much more often than married, so that's what I invite people to," Jack said, as if this was the most logical thing in the world.

Will stared. He'd never understand what was going on in Jack's mind. But he definitely didn't want to know.

"Sparrow!" came Norrington's voice.

Jack and Will turned around.

"I told you I want you down below!" Norrington said, addressing himself to Jack and ignoring Will completely.

"Norrington, you're my enemy, aren't you?" Jack asked.

"Well, I'm certainly not your friend!"

"Yes, but are you my enemy?"

"Yes, I am," Norrington affirmed.

"Then will you come to my hanging?" Jack asked anxiously.

"Naturally,"

"Oh, good! I feel so much better after inviting someone to my hanging!"

Norrington looked at Jack as if in some doubt of his sanity. It was the look that people usually gave Jack.

"Don't ask," Will advised.

A/N: Please review! I'll give you imaginary rum and chocolate!


	4. I'm not a Marrying Man

**A Civilization Gone with the Wind**

Disclaimer: Disney wouldn't accept a price of five dollars for Pirates of the Caribbean, so I still don't own it!

**I'm Not a Marrying Man**

**A/N: I have no idea why I'm still writing this! I just really like it myself!**

Elizabeth still Swann was sitting on the edge of the deck where the railing had been shattered by a passing cannon ball, dangling her bare feet over the edge. The sea breeze ruffled her hair as she watched the waved swell and recede. She wished her life had the simplicity of those constant waves, but it was tangled and confused. She was engaged, and she should be rapturously happy, but she wasn't. There was something holding her back.

Captain Jack Sparrow emerged from his cabin and made his way over to her. Elizabeth shifted in irritation. He was the last person she wanted around just now. He would tease and make fun of her and Will. She thought that if Jack called Will a eunuch one more time she would jump up and slap him in the face, like his "acquaintances" at Tortuga did. Or worse yet, he would accuse her of murdering him, and then what would she say? He would be absolutely right. Besides, Jack made her feel very uncomfortable when he was around. She wasn't sure why.

Jack sat down next to her and smirked, watching her out of the corner of his eye.

"What are you thinking of, love?" he asked.

"Nothing that concerns you," she snapped back, and stared determinately out at the sea, hoping he would take the hint and go away.

"Now, you can't do that, lass," Jack informed her. "You've killed me, and now you might as well talk to me to make up for it. What's troubling you?"

When she didn't answer again, he continued,

"Oh, don't tell me! 'It's just that I should be married by now,'" he said, miming her in one of their previous conversations. "You'll be married soon enough," he assured her, slightly bitterly.

"You sound sorry," Elizabeth said, wondering if this could possibly mean that he… loved her. Could Captain Jack Sparrow love? She didn't think that being loved by him would be a pleasant thing.

"I'm not sorry at all," Jack said, not exactly meeting her eyes.

"Jack…" Elizabeth hesitated.

"Aye, love?"

"Have you ever… loved anyone?"

"You mean do I love you?"

Elizabeth slapped him as hard as she could.

"How dare you!" she exclaimed.

"Well, that's what you meant, isn't it?" Jack asked, rubbing his cheek. "So I'll answer your question. No, I don't love you. And if you think that you love me, you're wrong. It might just seem so – "

"I love Will!"

"Yes, I know," Jack said. "But say that I loved you and you loved me. Would you marry me?"

"Well…" Elizabeth hesitated. "I suppose if I really _loved_ you… I would."

"If I said that I love you, would you marry me?"

"Yes,"

"So you do love me."

"I didn't say that!" Elizabeth cried with another slap.

"I'm telling you, 'Lizabeth, you don't want me. You're meant to be with Will. There's nothing for you with me."

Elizabeth stared at him. She was scared and sorry that she started this conversation at all. But somehow, as it always was with Jack, she understood herself a little better. She knew that she didn't want a comfortable boring life in Port Royal where everyone would gossip about her and have no adventures anymore. But she didn't want to always sail the seas either, lost, with no home in the world. She knew that she couldn't live without Will, but could she live without Jack?

"I'm bad luck, love," Jack said softly. "And I can't give you the thing you need most." She knew he meant love.

"Elizabeth!" came Will's voice across the deck. He had come out of his cabin to look for her.

"I'd never marry you, anyways." Jack told her. "I don't want to settle down like you do,"

Elizabeth stood up and Jack stood up too. Elizabeth looked at him and Will. She knew, somehow, that this was the most important moment in her life. If she stepped towards Jack, she would be leaving behind the chance at quiet, happy life with Will, and towards adventure and freedom. If she stepped towards Will, she would be stepping away from the pirate life and towards a life of love and contentment.

She stepped forward…

…straight into Will's waiting arms.

**A/N: Please review! I'm so lonely without reviews!**


	5. You Should be Kissed and Often

**A Civilization Gone with the Wind**

Disclaimer: If I owned PotC, I wouldn't be so excited for At World's End!

**You Should Be Kissed and Often**

**A/N: Last chapter for this story until after AWE!! I'm so excited! I'm afraid it will render this story AU...**

Elizabeth lay awake and stared at the ceiling. It was just after midnight, and Will was lying next to her, asleep. She watched the play of shadows on the ceiling above her. Will suddenly stirred next to her.

"Elizabeth?" he whispered.

"Hmm?" Elizabeth asked.

"I wanted to ask you something,"

"What is it?"

"I've wondered for the past few days, are you happy?"

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" Elizabeth asked.

"I don't know. We've had such an unsettled life for such a long time. I was just wondering if you didn't want to go back to that life."

"No," Elizabeth said, but slightly sadly. She had stopped wishing for excitement, but somehow, her life didn't feel as full as it should be.

"I also wondered," Will said hesitantly, "if maybe you left something behind in that life that you didn't want to."

"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked, sitting up in bed.

"I think you know,"

"No I don't, Will. What do you mean?"

"I mean that maybe you left someone you loved behind,"

"Do you mean… Jack?"

"Yes," Will whispered.

Elizabeth was suddenly angry. Nothing should ever come between her and Will, and here was Jack, no longer in their life, but still between them. Was Will having doubts about her and where her heart lay? She hadn't seen Jack for over a year, but he always seemed to haunt her thoughts.

"Would I have married you if I loved someone else?" she demanded angrily.

"I don't know, Elizabeth. Since I saw you kiss Jack on the ship – "

"Will, I explained that!"

"Elizabeth, I'm not saying I've had doubts about how faithful you are. I'm saying that since that day, I never understood you as completely as I did before. Since then, I wasn't sure what to expect. I love you the same way, but I can't read you heart."

"Will…" she whispered. "I don't know what to say. All I know is that I love you. And you must believe that. If you understand nothing else about me, understand that."

"I understand," Will murmured into her ear. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to upset you. I understand."

"Kiss me, Will," she demanded, and Will kissed her tenderly.

"I'm going to kiss you like that, every day. I want you to always be there, every day," he whispered. "For me to kiss and love. You will be, won't you?"

It was only the kind of thing everyone in love says, but it sounded like heaven to Elizabeth when Will said it.

"Of course I will," she told him. "Where would I be without your love?"

As she fell asleep in Will's arms, Elizabeth realized why Will didn't understand her completely. It was because he didn't have her whole heart. There was one tiny peace that neither she nor Will had. Jack still held that small chip of her heart. She gave it to him in that fateful kiss, and he would hold it forever. They didn't love each other, but something of her belonged to him. Elizabeth wanted that part of her heart back to give to Will, but she would never have it. It was Jack's.

**Please review! I'll give you figurative rum and chocolate!**


	6. I'm too Young to be a Widow

**A Civilization Gone with the Wind**

Disclaimer: If I owned PotC, AWE would have been _way_ different!

**I'm too Young to be a Widow**

**A/N: Okay, this story is now officially AU. **

Elizabeth wondered how in the world she would face the funeral. It didn't seem possible that Will was dead. The funeral would make it final, irreversible. She couldn't believe it. It all seemed like a terrible nightmare. She felt she would wake up at any second, but she didn't awake. Her heart was so empty, it was unbelievable. She didn't even have the comfort of tears.

She ran from the house and to the shore. She felt that she couldn't stay shut up there any longer. She needed a place where she could breathe. Elizabeth looked out at the horizon with dull, unseeing eyes. Then she started.

There was a ship sailing towards her. A ship with black sails. Even from so far away, she knew it the _Pearl_, returning with its captain. And he didn't know. Jack didn't know Will was dead.

She watched it sail into the hidden cove where she was standing with heavy eyes. Suddenly, she ran towards it. Jack was the first one to swing down from the deck on a rope. He alighted right next to her.

"Lizzie, this is surprise!" he exclaimed. Then, catching sight of her face, "What's wrong, love?"

She looked at him, but still, she couldn't cry or even speak. He put an arm around her shoulders and led her away from the ship and the crew's interested eyes. Jack didn't say a word, but led over the dunes. She walked automatically. Suddenly, he stopped and she stopped, dully. They were out of sight of the ship, hidden behind a high dune.

"What's wrong, Elizabeth?" he asked.

She still couldn't speak, but she fell down limply into the sand. Jack knelt down by her.

"Is it Will?" he asked, very softly. She had never heard his voice sound to kind. She nodded limply.

"Is he – dead?" Jack asked. Again she nodded. And then it came over her. Will was dead. Never again would he be there to help her, to kiss her, to love her. And finally, she cried. Tears ran down her cheeks, until she thought she could cry no more, but still they came.

"Will's dead," she kept on whispering. "He's dead. He's dead."

And Jack put his arms around her, and held her to his chest. She sobbed into his shoulder, and his arms gave her some small comfort. He held her as if he would never let her go until she could bear to stand alone. She wanted to stay there, with Jack, in the sand, forever.

And it was so wonderful to be held by him like this, not as if he loved her, but as a friend. He didn't love her and she didn't love him. He was just an old friend, comforting her in her grief. His arms were strong and she was so weak.

Will was dead and no one could take his place. She didn't want to get up and go one. She wanted to stay right here. But she knew she couldn't. She had to stand up and face the world, alone. And what a hard, cruel world it was without Will. Jack could never help her. In a moment she would get up and go home and get ready for the funeral tomorrow. But not just yet. She would stay here for a few more minutes.

"Elizabeth," Jack whispered. "I know. He was a good man. A good pirate."

With those words, Jack helped her more than any condolences to words of comfort would have done. A good man. A good pirate.

**Please review! I'll give you figurative rum!**


	7. A Civilization Gone with the Wind

**A Civilization Gone with the Wind**

Disclaimer: Does it really look like I own Pirates of the Caribbean?

**A Civilization Gone with the Wind**

**A/N: Okay, this thing is finished! No, I didn't mess up, this is really what this chapter is called. **

The surf broke against the shore again and again. Elizabeth wished her life could be as undisturbed. But it over. She wandered along the shore. It was very empty, but to her it was full. Full of memories and times that were over forever.

It seemed to her that the _Black Pearl_ would come around the bend in the shore at any second. But she knew that it never would. She had known for a week already. One day, she woke up with something missing from her heart. It was Jack.

She knew he was dead. He would never come back.

It was all over. The age of piracy, the time of adventures and glory. The gold, the riches. It would never return.

Everything was over, gone, never to return. Rumors of piracy were getting rarer and rarer, and now they were gone forever. Her whole world seemed to collapse. No Will, no Jack.

There was no one to comfort her now. The five-year-old boy and the three-year-old girl back at her house were the only thing worth living for, worth dying for. Will's children. She would live for them and only them.

But there was no escape. Her world had turned upside-down. And it was empty. She turned her back to the desolate beach, to the old memories and forgotten days, and went home along the sand flooded with early morning sunlight.

She turned for one last look. And for a second, just a second, it seemed that the _Pearl_ was sailing towards her, black sails billowing, a symbol of something that was gone forever. And Will was walking with her along with shore, brown hair billowing, a gentle, loving smile on his face. Elizabeth shook her head. She was seeing things that would haunt her for as long as she lived.

**Please review!**


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